Recollections from Sussex's forgotten war heroes. A generation of ordinary young men and women were thrust into the most extraordinary of situations some 70 years ago. Sussex is full of war heroes, but soon they will be gone – along with their stories. This is not a book about Victoria Cross winners, but the untold accounts of everyday heroes, such as former train engineer Bob Morrell, who was beaten, starved and tortured in the brutal Japanese prisoner camps. It is about ex-pub landlord John Akehurst, one of Bomber Command's finest, who gave the Germans the run-around Northern Europe after being shot down. It is about 86-year-old Shindy Perez and her remarkable escape from the gas chambers of Auschwitz. AUTHOR: Ben James is an assistant news editor at The Argus newspaper – Sussex's daily title. He has worked in newspapers and magazines since graduating from the University of Sheffield. A keen amateur historian, he regularly seeks out war veterans and tells their stories in the newspaper. Most recently this has included a World War One centenary supplement and a 70th anniversary of D-Day special. SELLING POINTS: . Untold stories of seemingly everyday men and women, such as the PoW escapee who survived by eating snow for weeks on end . The first book of its kind – and also the last while these veterans are alive . The intimate and human experience behind some of the war's most famous battles and events . Includes a foreword from Dame Vera Lynn 16 b/w plates, 30 b/w illustrations